Chapter 571: Strong Winds

Chapter 571: Strong Winds



City Lord Ditya stood with two guards by his side. They weren't nearly as large as Moose, but they had quite some heft to them nonetheless.

His eyes gleamed as he looked down at a rush of white energy spiraling into the air.

This was the Aether Stone Mine.

However, he, much like the others, didn't dare to move. As for the reason...

The charred remains of a bear demon lay scattered on the ground, the pickax it had been wielding likewise laying in a strewn-out pile of splintered wood and dented metal.

By the side, there were other bear demons that had been in the vicinity that suffered from the impact as well. They were currently licking at their wounds. But some of said wounds were so ghastly and gaping that one could only wonder what kind of help licking at them would provide.

There was one bear demon whose left arm was gone, along with large patches of flesh from its left chest. Ditya and the others were even quite sure they could see its ribcage. And yet it continued to lick at itself as though it wasn't bleeding out.

As for Moose, its leader, he seemed blissfully unaware as though it had nothing to do with him.

Finally, Braxwell understood why it was Moose would come personally. He had already suffered a loss.

Though the bear demons he had working on the mine were certainly the weakest in his charge, every City Lord that had made it this far could tell you that the tightest resource wasn't food, water, or even treasures and resources...

It was people.

Finding good people, powerful people, loyal people...

As for why the explosion was more contained than a normal one, even to the point Braxwell hadn't heard it, it was because Aether in its natural state, at least neutral Aether like this one, was quite docile.

The moment this Aether entered the atmosphere, it could integrate seamlessly. As such, the danger was short-lived, abrupt, and had no sustained peak.

Unless, of course... there was a chain reaction triggered in the mine.

Whether it was Braxwell, Ditya, or Moose, this was what they were the most concerned about.

What would they do if they hit a ready-to-burst Aether Stone that was near others like it? Would that chain reaction explode the entire mine, taking them all with it?

The obvious choice was to keep having Moose sacrifice his bear demons. But even Ditya didn't believe the simple giant was stupid enough to accept that.

A silence fell over the encampment until all one could hear was the haggard breathing of the injured bear demons. The wind howled around them as though it were trying to suck the atmosphere clean of it all.

Moose was the first to frown. Their breathing alone couldn't be influencing the wind to this extent. His gaze shot up only to find a sight that made his eyes widen.

Above, there was the body of a large peacock. It must have had a wingspan of at least 15 meters, its feathers of violet, black, and icy blue shimmering beneath the high sunlight.

It was so high in the skies that it didn't even cast a shadow over them, almost vanishing

within the rays of the sun.

Sylas was here.

WHOOOSH.